Web 101: Four must-have elements for your author site

Social Media is a great way for authors to connect with their audiences. It is almost too easy to pick up any electronic device, tap out a few words and tweet them to your followers. So, in the age of social media, does an author really need a website of her own?

The answer is yes, you really do. While social media plays a critical role in building and nurturing your fan base, relying on it as your only online presence is a mistake. Services are unpredictable: you don’t own the platform so if the organization makes changes to their services (as with Facebook’s recent major overhaul – its second within a year) you have no choice in the matter. The only way to ensure a consistent and controlled presence online is to create and maintain a website of your own.

So, how complex does it need to be?

You can get as fancy as you want with your site, adding membership areas, interactive quizzes, videos, content downloads and more, but at the bare minimum, you can get away with just a single-page site featuring some information about you and your contact details. Most authors will want to strike a balance somewhere in-between. Some common website elements that you might find useful are:

1)   The Home page: This is where visitors to your site first land when they type in your web address. Whether you are opting for a single-page site or something more complex, the home page should make it super easy for visitors to know at a glance where they are and what they can do there, so think about how you want to use your site, and make sure everything on the home page is there for a reason. Do you want people to buy your book, join a mailing list, leave comments for you, read reviews of your book, find your agent’s information, or read your recent blog posts? Whatever your top priorities are, it should take less than 10 seconds for a new visitor to find their way from point A to point B – any longer than that and most visitors will just move on. The interwebs are a notoriously fickle place, and irresistible crazy cat videos are always just a click away.

2)   About the Author: Unless you’re creating a single-page site, you’ll need an About page, where your audience can get to know the person behind the books. Some authors write their bios in the third person, as though they are describing a product or company, but you might choose to make it more personal, addressing your readers in the first person as if you’re welcoming them into your home. Whichever route you choose to take, write your bio in your own voice rather than taking on a stiff and formal corporate tone (unless you are a stiff and formal type of person, that is!). And for goodness’ sake, include a picture. Online audiences are drawn to images of human beings, so make it easy for them to gaze into your eyes and create an emotional bond with you.

3)   Your content: You’re a writer, so use your site site to showcase your talents. If you have published a book already, use its cover art prominently on your site, and post excerpts from it. Once you’ve whet your site visitors’ appetite, make it easy for them to buy your book by including prominent links to its product page on retailer sites. If you haven’t yet been published, you can still promote your writing by posting to a blog, but proceed with caution with this one. It used to be assumed that everybody with a website should also have a blog, but these days conventional wisdom says that unless you plan to update it regularly, you probably shouldn’t blog at all.

4) Contact information: This should go without saying, but so many people get it wrong. Even if you are a very private and protective person, you must make it very, very easy for people to contact you. It’s the only way to harness their natural interest in you and your work. But this doesn’t mean broadcasting your personal information. Give them the tools they need to contact you in whatever way you want to be contacted, and not in the ways you don’t. If you want your fans to send you emails, display your email address. If you want them to be able to send you messages but not by email, use a “contact” form that directs messages to your email address, which is kept private. (Most plug and play websites come with this feature.) If you would rather not get any messages from your fans, you can still make it easy for them to connect with you by placing your social media links and using simple tools to display your social media feeds. And of course, be sure to include phone and email contact information for your agent or publisher, if you have one.

The great thing about a website is that you can make it whatever you want it to be and change it as often as you need. A site that’s small and perfectly formed is much better than an unwieldy hot mess with seventeen tabs full of useless content. You can and will add more functions and features as time passes. So start small, start manageable, but above all, start now.

 

Maggie Langrick

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